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Season 5, Episode 6: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this article. I have only read the first three books and I have no knowledge of what transpires in the show moving forward. Any views or content expressed are solely personal theories, opinions and insights.

A GAME OF FACES

Episode six opens at the House of Black and White as Arya continues to clean the bodies of the dead, wondering what is done with these corpses she’s been cleaning. Little does she know that she is soon about to face the answers to all her questions, quite literally. And as we continue to learn more about the Faceless Men, we realize that a face is much more than just a physical appearance, but a window into the truth of a character. As the girl Arya is with tells her that she is originally from Westeros but ended up at Braavos serving the Faceless Men after they killed her stepmother for her, she then goes on to ask Arya whether her story was true or not. In short, she’s asking Arya if she’s able to read her face and see the truth of her character — something Arya is unable to do. Jaqen H’ghar plays a similar game with Arya, as her asks her questions and is able to read the lies on her face every time she tells one. Most notably, he calls outs her lies when she says she hated the Hound, an explicit confirmation to all viewers of what we already assumed — that deep down she cared for the Hound and identified with his character.

Later, when a girl enters the House of Black and White in pain and dying, Arya takes a step closer towards becoming a Faceless Man, as she acts as a servant of death and lies to the girl in order to comfort her as she drinks from the fountain of death. It is at this point that Jaqen takes her down to the lower levels of the House of Black and White, where we see the thousands of faces which are used by the Faceless Man to assume new identities. And as the scene comes to an end, Jaqen tells Arya that she is not yet ready to become nobody, but is perhaps ready to become somebody else.

Artist depiction of Arya and the faces

TYRION & JORAH

Elsewhere on Easteros, hostilities have defused between Tyrion and Jorah as they are becoming more buddy-buddy. And just like that, we are taken back to the very first season, when Tyrion visited the Wall and met Lord Commander Mormont. Tyrion tells Jorah that the brothers of the Night’s Watch spoke of Lord Commander Mormont very highly, saying he was a man “the likes of which we will never again see.” As viewers, we get a major perspective shift, as we see Tyrion realize that Jorah wasn’t aware that his father had died, though we have been aware for several seasons. Immediately, we see the pain and shock that comes over Jorah’s face.

What makes this moment especially sad, which viewers don’t realize from the show, is the backstory surrounding Jorah and his father. House Mormont was the most noble house of Bear Island, and Jeor Mormont was Lord of Bear Island. He was a proud and honorable man and left his home to serve the Night’s Watch, eventually becoming Lord Commander. He left Bear Island to his heir, Jorah, assuming he would carry on the Mormont tradition and lineage. Sadly, Jorah was exiled for slave trading (something he was forced into doing) and forced to flee his home of Bear Island. Jorah was separated from his father and would never get to carry on his father’s legacy. This is why Lord Commander Mormont gave his sword, Longclaw, to Jon Snow, and not his own son, Jorah, breaking the centuries-long tradition of passing that legendary sword from Mormont father to son. And as Lord Commander Mormont was killed by his own men, traitors of the Night’s Watch, Jorah would be thousands of miles away, separated from his father and unable to even say goodbye.

The pain on Jorah’s face after learning of his father’s death

As Jorah and Tyrion continue on, they are captured by pirates who are taking them back to Mereen to compete in the fighting pits which Khaleesi just reopened. One thing’s for sure — it will be an interesting reuniting of Jorah and Khaleesi — each of whom is more desperate than ever. Khaleesi, is now without her two most loyal advisors, Jorah and Ser Barristan, and Grey Worm has been badly wounded. Similarly, Jorah, now without a father, is more alone and without purpose than ever before. Could it be that Jorah will be caught in a compromising situation in the fighting pits and Khaleesi will have to decide whether or not to save him?

BAELISH IS STILL SCHEMING…

After months away, manipulating things in the North, Baelish returns to King’s Landing to “play the game” with Cercei. He lies to Cercei, telling her that House Bolton has decided to marry Ramsey to Sansa, leaving out the fact that he was the one who in fact arranged the marriage. He tells Cercei to let Stannis fight the Boltons, and that he will swoop in with the knights of the Vale to crush the loser and claim the North for House Lannister. All Cercei has to do, in exchange, is name Baelish warden of the North. And once again, we are left scratching our heads and wondering what Baelish really wants here — just as we were starting to consider trusting him and thinking he might actually care for Sansa. And now, we wonder whether he is playing Sansa and still serving Cercei….Or playing Cercei and still looking out for Sansa…Or serving other motives altogether… And in a very precise choice of words, Baelish reminds Cercei that he “always serves the Throne,” rather than stating that he serves the Lannisters.

DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES

In another storyline occuring in King’s Landing, desperate times called for desperate measures. Cercei is more alone than ever before — no father, no brothers, even her uncle left her to return to Casterly Rock. And in her most vulnerable moment, she makes a bold play to weaken the position of House Tyrell. Using the High Sparrow as her tool, she has Loras and Margaery both indicted and they now stand to face trial. And let’s not forget, several episodes ago, she sent Mace Tyrell away to handle “financial dealings” with the Iron Bank of Braavos. This was a bold move indeed, one that could have serious repercussions from House Tyrell. And if Lady Olenna’s face gave us any clues, it looked like she was telling Cercei, “This isn’t over, and you better believe we will get our revenge for this.”

Lady Olenna stares down Cercei

DORNE

At the Water Gardens of Dorne, we see the Dornish prince who tells Myrcella he plans to marry her. And just moments later, her father, Jaime, along with Bronn, is on the scene to rescue her…Only she doesn’t want to be rescued. And then all hell breaks loose, as the Sand Snakes, Oberyn’s bastard daughters, also make a move to capture Myrcella to avenge the murder of their beloved father. Both sides fail, as Prince Doran’s guards arrive on the scene and take everybody into custody.

Jaime & Bronn

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD

At Winterfell, before the weirwood trees of her Old Gods, Sansa is married to Ramsey Bolton and her situation has become more paradoxical than ever before. Finally, she is closer to home than ever before, yet she is perhaps in more danger than ever before. Even in her precarious situations before, there was always somebody looking after her. In King’s Landing, even when she had to endure the cruelty of Joff, the Hound was there to keep her safe. And after that, though we weren’t sure how much we could trust him, there was some level of comfort believing Baelish was looking after Sansa. But now they are both gone and she seems all alone…But let’s not forget, Brienne is not far and is watching over Sansa — if only Sansa had taken Brienne’s protection when she offered it several episodes ago.

Preparing for her wedding, Miranda washes Sansa’s hair and attempts to scare her. But, Sansa is no longer a scared child, and she won’t let Miranda frighten her — least of all in her own home of Winterfell. With nobody there to protect her and no longer able to avert the imminent danger that has been surrounding her for so long, Ramsey finally gets his hands on Sansa. As he forces Theon to watch, he rapes Sansa, officially marking the end of the Sansa we once knew. Even through all the terror and torture she has endured over the years, and even as she has evolved into a darker character that has begun to understand the evils of the world, she still had one thing that nobody had taken from her — her virginity — the one remaining symbol of her innocence, her youth, her purity. And just like that, it’s all gone, and Ramsey eliminates whatever innocence was left of Sansa. And as Theon is forced to look on, we see the theme of faces come full circle, as Theon is unable to hide the truth of his character — deep down, he is not Reek, he is still Theon, and we see the disgust and terror on his face as he is forced to watch the last drops of innocence taken from Sansa.